Spotted the Spotted House Gecko!

Written by: Mr William Teng

SPOTTED HOUSE GECKO
帝王脊斑壁虎

Photo credit: Mr William Teng

This little fellow here was spotted outside the General Office of the school. Initially, I thought it was a juvenile common house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus) - the gecko that we often see on the walls of our houses.

I vaguely remembered seeing juvenile common house geckos before and they do not have the spots that this lizard had and I thought it might be a different species.

As it turns out, it is actually a spotted house gecko (Gekko monarchus). Not only is is it of a different species, it is of a different genus too. This lizard has a characteristic W spot on the back of the head - a trait of Gekko monarchus.

Scientific name: 
Gekko monarchus

gekko (from Dutch gekko, which is likely to be derived from Malay gekok, which is imitative of the chirping sound made by geckos*) *from Wiktionary

monarchus
"monarch"

Finding the Chinese name of this lizard took a while but it was worth it. Its Chinese name means 'King/Monarch Spotted Ridge Gecko' - a reference to its scientific name and the spots on its back.

But why monarchus? Is it because the letter 'W' on the back of its head looks like a crown?

Photo credit: Mr William Teng

The photo above shows how its spots provided an excellent camouflage among the pebbles. Can you spot it?

This was an exciting discovery for me because I did not know of this species of lizard.

Where did the lizard go in the end? It decided to escape into the gap between the shelves outside the G.O.

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